Could Elizabeth Warren Become the Go-To Democrat?

How well will a Massachusetts liberal fit in among Southern blue-collar Democrats? That question will be answered over the next couple of weeks, when Elizabeth Warren goes to West Virginia to stump for Natalie Tennant, who is seeking to replace retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller in a hotly contested race in coal country against Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.

On July 14, Warren will head to the Eastern Panhandle, as Tennant, who is currently secretary of state, rolls out her education plan. Warren also plans to appear in Kentucky later this month with Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic nominee for Senate.

West Virginia has been trending red, breaking from its Democratic roots. In 2012 President Obama lost all 55 counties, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate was completely shut out in West Virginia. Capito is the heavy favorite to win, and if she does, it would be the first time since 1956 that the state has picked a Republican to fill a Senate seat.

For Warren, being in coal country is a test of whether she can boost the Democratic ticket and whether she can find an audience among the kind of Democrats that supported Bill and Hillary Clinton. In 2008, Clinton scored her biggest presidential primary win in West Virginia over then-Sen. Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton won Kentucky and West Virginia both times he ran for president. More recently, Bill Clinton stumped for Grimes, who is up against Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R).

But coal will no doubt be the elephant in the room in West Virginia and Kentucky, given that Warren supports Obama’s move to curb carbon emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this month released a 645-page plan that calls for a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants in the next 15 years. On the Senate floor, Warren praised the plan, applauding Obama and the EPA, and blaming power plants for carbon pollution and climate change.

A short time later, Tennant, who calls herself pro-coal, released a “Coal and Energy Jobs Agenda” that calls for expanding solar and wind power, investing in new technology and protecting coal jobs. Tennant has repeatedly said that she strongly opposes the president’s regulations and that the regulations would undermine West Virginia’s coal economy.

“This campaign is a clear choice between the West Virginia values I represent and the Wall Street dollars Congresswoman Capito represents,” Tennant said in a statement. “Wall Street banks have too much say over Washington already, West Virginia working families and college students deserve a Senator who will speak up for them.”

“I strongly support Natalie’s campaign because I have no doubt she will work in the Senate to make sure working families have a fighting chance to succeed in this country again. I also have seen Congresswoman Capito in action on the House Financial Services Committee, and time and again I have watched her side with powerful financial interests over working people,” Warren said in a statement. “Wall Street already has enough Senators looking to advance its interests, and West Virginia deserves a Senator like Natalie who will wake up every morning and go to bed every night focused on how to fight for working families.”

Natalie Tennant

Tennant has also appeared with on the stump with Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) as well as other West Virginia Democrats.

But Warren’s appearance underscores her emergence as the go-to blue collar populist, who is able to match her policy proposals around education with her personal story as the daughter of working class parents. Warren has become the darling of progressives who are looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton, and see her as a champion of the working class.

The bumper sticker slogan “I’m from the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party,” is popular among progressives, who want to see Warren run in 2016. But Warren, who will headline the annual Netroots Nation conference in next month, has said she has no plans to launch a White House bid.

Like Clinton, she just released a book, “A Fighting Chance,” and has talked about how the system is rigged for the rich, an argument that resonates with Democratic activists in West Virginia.

“What we are stepping away from is not the coal industry, but the corporate fat cats, that’s the real problem and the focus on working class people is something that all West Virginia Democrats can agree on,” said Benjamin Seebaugh, an environmental activist, and recent West Virginia University graduate. “If Warren sees that Tennant is a step in the right direction then I’m more enthused.”

For Warren, the question is whether she can grow her profile beyond the coastal and New England liberals that have elevated her.

For her part, Hillary Clinton has said that she plans to offer help to Democrats facing November headwinds, but she has yet to appear for any candidates so far. Once her book tour is over, she is likely to campaign.

But during her book tour, she has stumbled over questions about her wealth, leading some Democrats to question whether she is an effective messenger on issues of fairness and economic inequality, themes that have become mainstays for Democrats. Clinton has been on clean up duty after saying she was “dead broke,” when she left the White House, and her high dollar speeches have come under scrutiny as well. For some, the former first lady, has come to embody the kind of wealth and privilege that Warren and other Democrats have railed against.

For Warren, the question is whether she can grow her profile beyond the coastal and New England liberals that have elevated her. In West Virginia, a state where pro-gun, pro-coal Democrats occupy the top elected posts, Republicans are painting Warren as an unfit messenger.

“Natalie Tennant’s embrace of Elizabeth Warren’s aggressively liberal, anti-West Virginia agenda is truly astounding, but sadly, not surprising. Natalie Tennant has repeatedly denounced those behind the War on Coal and ObamaCare while seeking their money and support behind voters’ backs,” Capito’s campaign spokeswoman, Amy Graham, said in an e-mail. “Bringing in one of the staunchest opponents of coal and West Virginia’s way of life is just the latest instance of Natalie Tennant’s blatant hypocrisy and disrespect for the people of this state.”

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LA Progressive, its publisher, editor or any of its other contributors.

About Nia-Malika Henderson

Nia-Malika Henderson is a senior political reporter for CNN Politics. She reports broadly on the 2016 campaign for CNN's digital and television platforms, with a special focus on identity politics — exploring the dynamics of demographics, race and religion, and reporting on the groups of people who help shape national elections. Until early 2015, she was a national political reporter for The Washington Post, where she covered the White House and the 2012 campaign. Before joining The Post, Nia wrote about education, race and the White House for Politico. In 2008, she covered the presidential election and local government on Long Island for Newsday. She also worked at The Baltimore Sun where she covered city government in Annapolis. A regular guest on Fox, MSNBC, and CNN, Nia has an undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology from Duke University, and graduate degrees from Yale University in American studies and Columbia University in journalism.

Comments

Starting with her Senate campaign, Clinton has consistently run as “Hillary” not “Clinton”. That isn’t a label that has been foisted upon her, it is the label she has herself sought and chosen. She has gone to great lengths to disassociate herself with the “Clinton” brand. Which is ironic.

Came this page after seeing Nia-Malika Henderson this a.m. on “Meet the Press” and wanted to learn more about her writings. You (Ms. Henderson) were exceptional on that show. By far the most articulate and best informed.

Love Warren; don’t like Clinton. That being said, I need to respond to the headline writer who penned “alternative to Hillary” and “Hillary Repeats ’08 Mistake”: When William Jefferson Clinton ran for president, he was referred to as “Clinton;” when Hillary Clinton runs, she’s referred to as “Hillary.”

As a woman, I don’t like this.

When I volunteered in the Rev. Jesse Jackson campaign, we referred to our candidate as “Jesse” when speaking to his others inside the campaign, but when the media ran a headline, “Dukakis, Hart and Jesse to debate,” I knew their faked familiarity came from contempt.

Female candidates and candidates of color are being trivialized by this.

The only time I know that the media routinely called a person of esteem by anything other than a surname was when headlines used “Ike” for President Eisenhower, but his nickname was so much a better length than his surname for headlines and, more important, that white male general was not from any marginalized group.

Whether you like her or not, please show your respect for women by referring to Clinton as you would a male candidate, unless you’re part of her campaign family speaking with others inside.

Progressive Issues

Rosemary Joyce: Archaeology has a checkered history of exploitation by totalitarian regimes. Treating the question of what materials from the past should be preserved, studied, and thus valorized, as politically neutral is part of the reason for that history.